Book launches at Kalk Bay Books 25 Sept to 7 Oct 2014

Kalk Bay Books and Jacana invite you to a launch of The New Radicals
by Glenn Moss

This lively and original book tells the story of a generation of activists who embraced new forms of opposition politics that would have profound consequences. It explores the influence of Black Consciousness, the new trade unionism, radicalisation of students on both black and white campuses, the Durban strikes, and Soweto 1976, and concludes that these developments were largely the result of home-grown initiatives.

‘In the dark days of the early seventies, when the news filtered through to Robben Island of a campaign to release political prisoners, waged by a small group of left-leaning, white students, it buoyed our spirits immensely. This book provides invaluable and illuminating insights into how the next generation of activists took up the struggle against apartheid under very difficult conditions, a story that has not often been told.’ – Ahmed Kathrada

Kalk Bay Books and Umuzi invite you to a launch of Esther’s House
by Carol Campbell

Esther Gelderblom has been waiting for a house for twenty years. In the bitter Oudtshoorn winter she and her friend Katjie queue to ask when their names will finally appear on the government’s list of housing recipients. Esther dreams of a home for her daughter Liedjie, who plays the keyboard for the Bless Me Jesus church, and for her husband, Neville, who will then get his life in order.

But corruption is rife as housing officials manipulate the list for favours. When Katjie’s shack burns down, the two women take matters into their own hands, occupying two empty houses and setting in motion events that will compromise everything they hold dear.

Esther’s House is a story of greed, power, and the fight for what is right when good people are pushed too far.

Kalk Bay Books and Jonathan Ball invite you to the launch of Strandveldfood
by Kobus van der Merwe and Jac de Villiers

Strandveldfood is not just a recipe book. It’s a collection of snapshots, in pictures and words, of a year’s worth of cooking, eating, plant-hunting and photographing the Cape West Coast, built on a foundation of five years’ worth of exploration and discovery.

Kobus van der Merwe honours the beautiful and rugged landscape of the West Coast with an offering of delicious, seasonal recipes. Jac de Villiers’ photography perfectly captures what makes the region so inspiring and just how deftly Kobus has turned his muse into culinary magic.

Recipes are presented by season, taking you on a journey through the limestone and granite Fynbos region that stretches from Postberg in the West Coast National Park, past Langebaan, Saldanha, Jacobsbaai and on toward Stompneus Bay, ending at St Helena Bay. Traditional Strandveld foods like bokkoms and snoekkuite, as well as some twists on old favorites like melktert ice-cream demonstrate Kobus’ loyalty to creating authentic but contemporary recipes.

Kobus van der Merwe was born in the Kalahari and raised in the Boland. Spending his childhood travelling between these two dramatically different locations, he nurtured a love for the South African landscape, its people and unique plant kingdom.

Kalk Bay Books and Zebra Press invite you to a launch of Justice Denied
by David Klatzow

David will be in conversation with Noseweek’s Martin Weltz.

If you are accused of a crime you did not commit, do you believe that justice will prevail in a court of law? Perhaps you should think again…

• An innocent woman is almost sent to prison for eight years because of a mistaken fingerprint identification by so-called forensic experts;

• a chicken farmer is hanged for a brutal murder he did not commit due to incorrect analysis of post-mortem bruising; and

• a mother is sent to prison for murdering her baby daughter when a substance is falsely identified as blood…

These are just some of the major forensic disasters that have occurred over the past 100 years, and which are exposed in Justice Denied.

Contrary to what television series like CSI and NCIS would have one believe, forensic science does not provide instant answers to impenetrable crimes; in reality, forensic science is neither clearcut nor easy to interpret, and practitioners are not all competent – as renowned forensic scientist Dr David Klatzow proves in this book. In Justice Denied, he exposes the miscarriages of justice resulting from the faulty courtroom testimony of corrupt or incompetent forensic pathologists and unscrupulous public prosecutors who seek convictions at all costs.

From the infamous Dr Crippen case in 19th-century England to the dingo–baby trial in Australia and the unsolved murder of Inge Lotz, Justice Denied reveals the incalculable damage done both to people’s lives and to justice across the globe. Justice, while age-old, is not always served when bad science plays a hand.